Kevin and I hit Linda Mar mid day. Strong, gusty, on-shore winds. Small weak surf. Lots of folks in the water. Took about 15 min of failed take offs to get a handle on how the little waves were breaking, but got in the swing of it and had a good time. As often happens when the conditions are crap-but-workable, the crowd of folks were having fun just being out and encouraging each other on.

Kevin, realizing that I would never do it, came over on Thursday night and forced me to strip the five years of accumulated wax off of my two boards. We used a scrapper, then a solvent, and then this funny bean-bag-in-a-stocking thing called a pickle to polish off all the wax on both of my boards. They looked brand new when we were done. On Saturday before heading to the beach, Kevin came by and we put on a fresh base wax and then a new topcoat. I think my boards are a pound or two lighter.

I put my white board down after getting out of the water on Saturday and the wind picked it up and took it for a ride. Bummer. If you've never handled a surf board before, you have no idea how delicate they are. A slight tap against the ground or a car can cause the fiberglass coat to crack which allows in water. I am lucky that as a result of its flight there was only one ding that compromised the board. Usually when I ding a board, I ask a shop for a repair man, I call them up, bring my board, leave it there forever. That's why I have two boards. I have only done a repair myself twice. Well, I have only talked my friends into doing a repair for me twice. Three times, since Kevin fixed yesterday's ding last night. I sanded the repair this morning and it looks great. I think I can do it myself next time.

The outlook for the week is small. There should be little wind off the coast, so there will at least be clean conditions. I'd like to get in one dawn patrol this week. At the moment, Tuesday AM looks the best before the high pressure weakens and the coastal winds pick up mid week.

I'm pretty psyched that I have gotten in a couple sessions over the last few weeks without any pain in my elbow or shoulder. I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy. I need to think of the coming season as a time to slowly build strength and flexibility. I don't want to hurt myself for a third season in a row! I've got about two months to get in shape before the season starts for real in September. Even with all the dry-land training I've been doing for the last 8 months, I am still weak, slow and out of practice. There is simply no replacement for time in the water, on the board. Paddling is difficult and getting in shape to do it is hard and very satisfying.

FitSugar had a post this week that cited an activity calculator. It claimed that playing golf, while using a cart no less, would burn 217 calories/hour. According to this calculator, surfing for an hour would burn only 186 calories per hour. Either, I am doing something very wrong, this alleged golfer is pushing the cart around the course, or those numbers are whack. (I'm pretty sure it is the last option).

I am blessed with four older sisters. I just got back from celebrating my dad's 80th b'day and this is a pic with me and my sisters (as well as my nephew Walt).